keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand, (that is, the hand of Joseph,) because the Lord was with him; and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper."

The Lord was with him. What a privilege! You think it a great comfort to have your father or mother with you, especially when you are in difficulty, in trouble, or in sickness, and feel the need of some one to advise you, and take care of you. How often their presence has calmed your fears and soothed your sorrows. How have you leaned on them for support, when you felt how feeble you were, and ignorant of what was best to be done!

You have a Father in heaven, who is all-wise and all-powerful! He wishes you to feel toward him as children ought to do toward so kind and powerful a benefactor. He wishes you to love and obey him. He tells you, in the Bible, what you must do to please him, and to make others and yourself good and happy. He, first of all, requires that you should be heartily sorry for all your sins, and forsake them, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. He invites you to pray to him for the Holy Spirit, to lead you to do what he requires; and he promises, if you will thus pray, to give you this Spirit.

Will you go to this heavenly Father, sorry for your sins and confessing them all; and beseeching

him, for Christ's sake, to forgive you, and to grant you the Holy Spirit, that you may be led to love and obey him?

Then the Lord will be with you, as he was with Joseph. He will do a great deal more for you than ever your father, or mother, or any earthly friend has done.

He will be with you, having you under the peculiar care of his providence; guiding and protecting you; guarding you against temptation in prosperity; supporting you under trials in adversity; making all things work together for your good; and, at last, taking you to heaven, to be with him and his Son, and the spirits of the redeemed, where all are, for ever, free from sin and sorrow, and going on improving in knowledge, and increasing in goodness and happiness.

CHAPTER X.

The fear of God-what it is--its benefits.-The dream of the chief butler.-Its interpretation by Joseph.

PERHAPS YOU have wondered that so young a man as Joseph, and a stranger too, should so soon, while a servant in the one case, and a prisoner in the other, gain the entire confidence of Potiphar, and of the jailor.

There is one simple reason for it; he feared God. Wherever he was, and whatever he was doing, he remembered that the eye of God was upon him, and that he would have to render an account to God of all his conduct.

You have seen a striking instance of this, when Potiphar's wife tempted him to sin. How can I do this great wickedness, said he, and sin against God.

You will find nothing so effectual to keep you also from falling into sin, and to strengthen you in the performance of duty, as this fear of God.

It is a fear mingled with love; such a fear as an affectionate and dutiful child has, of offending the parent who is tender and yet firm, kind and yet strict, in the government of his family.

Study your Bible, and make it your great concern to learn who God is. Find out all that you can of his greatness and goodness; and you will see what reason you have both to fear and to love so glorious and kind a being.

Pray that you may fear and love him, and have a deep feeling of his presence, and of your accountability to him, for all that you think, and say, and do. Then, like Joseph, you will be under the constant protection of God. Wicked persons will see what it is that leads you to do right, and they will respect you for it; and good persons will love you; and you will be taking the only sure way, as Joseph did, whether you are in prosperity or in adversity, of gaining the esteem and confidence of all.

We shall see these truths still further illustrated

in the history of Joseph.

Not long after he began to have the management of the prison, there were two persons brought there, of whom I will give you some account.

One was the chief butler of the king of Egypt. He probably had the care of the wine which the king used, and when the king drank it, handed the cup to him. Sometimes he would take the fine ripe grapes, and press the juice into the cup, and give it to the king to drink. It was common for the kings in Egypt, and in Asia, in ancient times, to

have such cup-bearers, and the office was considered one of great honor.

The other person who was brought to the prison was the king's chief baker, who had the oversight of those who prepared his bread and other kinds of food. His office, too, was a very respectable one. Indeed, we have reason to conclude that both these persons were of high rank; for an ancient historian, Diodorus Siculus, who has written about the Egyptians, tells us that the officers of the kings (such as the chief butler, or cup-bearer, and the chief baker,) were selected from the most distinguished families of the priesthood, and were among the nobles.

It seems that these officers of the king had, in some way, offended him. He was so enraged at their conduct that he put them into the prison in which Joseph was, being a part of the house of Potiphar the captain of the guard, and probably under his general superintendence.

Potiphar charged Joseph with the care of the chief butler and chief baker, and he saw that they were placed in confinement, and provided with such things as were allowed to prisoners in their situation.

After having been in prison some time, these two men had each of them a dream the same night, which led them to wonder at it not a little, and to feel very